With 189 member countries, staff from more 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.

Experts And Leaders

The World Bank Group works in every major area of development. We provide a wide array of financial products and technical assistance, and we help countries share and apply innovative knowledge and solutions to the challenges they face.

Country Groups

Global data and statistics, research and publications, and topics in poverty and development

We face big challenges to help the world’s poorest people and ensure that everyone sees benefits from economic growth. Data and research help us understand these challenges and set priorities, share knowledge of what works, and measure progress.

STAY CONNECTED

The World Bank Group Boards of Directors refers to four separate Boards of Directors, namely the Board of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Agency (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Each Board is responsible for the general operations of their respective organization. The Executive Directors as individuals cannot exercise any power nor commit or represent the Bank unless specifically authorized by the Board of Directors to do so. Executive Directors are appointed or elected by the Governors. Separate elections are held for the Bank and MIGA Board of Directors. Bank Executive Directors serve ex-officio as Directors for IFC and IDA. The current Boards of the World Bank Group consist of 25 Directors*. In line with the Bank's Articles, the Executive Directors select the World Bank President, who is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The President is the presiding officer, and ordinarily has no vote except a deciding vote in case of an equally divided Board. See the President's contract.

Each Executive Director appoints an Alternate Executive Director who has full power to act for him or her when he or she is not present. Furthermore, Senior Advisors and Advisors assist the Executive Directors in their work, who can, along with the Alternates to Executive Directors, attend most Board meetings in an advisory capacity, without voting rights

Previous Compositions

The first Board consisted of 12 Executive Directors, as provided under the IBRD Articles of Agreement, Article V Section 4(b), of which five were appointed and seven were elected. Increases in the number of elected Executive Directors require a decision of the Boards of Governors by an 80% majority of the total voting power. Before November 1, 1992, there were 22 Executive Directors, 17 of whom were elected. In 1992, in view of the large number of new members that had joined the Bank, the number of elected Executive Directors increased to 19. The two new seats, Russia and a new group around Switzerland, brought the total number of Executive Directors to 24. An additional chair for Sub-Saharan Africa was added effective November 1, 2010, bringing the size of the Board to 25 chairs.

Voting Powers

The voting power of each Member country is based on the number of shares it holds. Shares are allocated differently in each organization, resulting in different voting powers.

The Corporate Secretariat is responsible for coordinating the process of membership as well as assisting members to complete their subscriptions to their allocated shares under periodic capital increases in IBRD, IDA, IFC, and MIGA. It provides advice on the procedures for subscribing to additional shares as authorized under resolutions approved by the Boards of Governors, including required documentation and capital subscriptions payments.

The Code of Conduct for Board Officials sets forth principles and ethical standards for the Executive Directors, the Presidents of each of the organizations, Executive Director Designates, Executive Director Post-Designates, Alternate Executive Directors, Alternate Executive Director Designates, Alternate Executive Director Post-Designates, Temporary Alternate Executive Directors, Senior Advisors, and Advisors to Executive Directors (collectively, “Board Officials”) in connection with, or having a bearing upon, their status and responsibilities in the organizations of the World Bank Group.

The Code of Conduct provides that, as these officials are entrusted with responsibilities as prescribed in the Articles of Agreement, By-Laws, and related documents of the organizations, their personal and professional conduct must comply with the standards and procedures set forth in the Code of Conduct. Pursuant to the Code of Conduct, the Board has established an Ethics Committee to address ethics matters concerning Board Officials in order to ensure sound governance pursuant to the Code of Conduct. The Ethics Committee has the authority to advise Board Officials or the President on matters related to conflict of interests, annual disclosures, or other ethical aspects of conduct in respect of Board Officials or the President, and to investigate alleged misconduct by Board Officials or the President.

follow us

newsletter

You have clicked on a link to a page that is not part of the beta version of the new worldbank.org. Before you leave, we’d love to get your feedback on your experience while you were here. Will you take two minutes to complete a brief survey that will help us to improve our website?

Feedback Survey

Thank you for agreeing to provide feedback on the new version of worldbank.org; your response will help us to improve our website.

What was the purpose of your visit to worldbank.org today?

Did the layout and navigation of the new site help you locate what you were looking for?
Yes
No

Do you have any other feedback on the new version of our website? (Optional)

If you are willing to be contacted in the future to help us improve our website, please leave your email address below.

Which of the following best describes your career field or organization?
Student
Academic/Professor
Government Employee
Media Organization
Multilateral Organization
NGO or Nonprofit
Private Sector Firm
World Bank Group
Other

How often do you visit the World Bank website?
This is my first time
Daily
About once a week
About once a month
Every six months or less often

Thank you for participating in this survey! Your feedback is very helpful to us as we work to improve the site functionality on worldbank.org.